After the End
by Magestii
Summary: In a world wracked with the scars of a nuclear war, humans must live underground in order to avoid radiation poisoning. An organization known as Vocaloid produces synthetic humans who are trained from birth to return to the surface and make it safe for humans again. Their training, however, teaches them to fight off more than just radiation poisoning...
1. So That's a Thing

**A/N: I just discovered this fic, which I wrote about a year ago but decided not to publish because I wanted certain themes to last longer than they did. I just wrote it for fun, so I didn't really plan on publishing it, but I'm actually very fond of it so here it is. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Finally, after years of training, the time had come for Miku to become partnered for life with a determined equal, someone with whom she would fight eternally side-by-side. It had been described by the seniors as 'locked in an ever-deepening dance of trust and compassion.' Being born, or built, rather, into the anticipation of what would await her upon finally completing solo-training and meeting her lifetime partner, the moment left her excited and slightly nervous for the first time in years. She had practiced her part of the dance seamlessly every morning before she headed to training, memorizing the moves by touch so that she could complete them even in an instance of forgetfulness. She waited in a small, dark room. White light seeped in from outside, coloring the walls before her until fading into beautiful darkness. She knew that her partner was going to be her equal, but at the same time she was worried, seeming as they were usually assigned from birth unless extreme differences in performance were displayed. She knew that he would probably be someone that she had either never seen before, or someone that she saw on a daily basis. It could not be Len, because their scores varied by over one-hundred, meaning that even if they were assigned at birth, she would have received a partner of better equality. The sound of the previous set of partners completing their dance was nerve-wracking, but anyone worthy of a partner after being trained wouldn't let that interfere with their performance. A crowd roared, and Miku couldn't even remember why it was there in the first place, but it had something to do with merit and prestige.

She heard a 'click' signifying that the partnered people had entered their joined booth, and prepared herself, taking a deep breath and watching the wall in front of her with a concentrated expression. Unclenching her fists and wiping her palms on her legs, she was ready as a secondary click raised the panel in front of her and let her step onto the walkway before her. As she took in the room, she did not let her eyes stray from her path. She was on a bright white catwalk that was thinly bordered with silver, illuminating the room around it. Far below the path in a bowl-shaped arena, there was an audience that appeared navy-blue thanks to overhead lights. Before her, there was a circular platform that was wider than the path that led to it. The platform was centered by a silver axis signifying where the dancers could not stand, and three other paths branched out from it. Branching out from the center to Miku's right was a walkway that a well-dressed man had begun to ascend. To her left, a pathway led to a booth that was three times the size of the room that she had just left, which was where the partners would go when they had completed the ceremony. Finally, directly before her, on the opposing side of the raised circular platform was another path, where she could see a pink-haired woman approaching.

Miku almost lost her composure, but remembered that failure at partnering resulted in being labeled as 'deficient' and thrown into storage. In any other situation, she would be overjoyed. The strongest person in the entirety of the training force had been assigned her partner. This was someone that she fell second to by only a few points, making her logically the partner to be most aspired for. The crowd, which had been watching them grow up as if it were a reality-television show, all displayed the awe that Miku was too professional to express. Some of the members of the audience snickered, knowing full well about the rivalry that the women shared. Almost everyone was very aware of the moderately humorous situation. This was a woman that Miku had barely surpassed on her final challenge, and by a half-point.

They finally finished the seemingly infinite walk towards one another. Standing on opposite sides of the center of the circular platform, the turned mechanically towards the man that had been approaching, coming to stand beside one another in nearly perfect symmetry that was only disrupted by their height difference. They turned towards one another a final time, and waited for the man's signal. Upon receiving it, Miku extended her hand for Luka to take and they stood there silently, both incredibly angry, yet appearing sobered as they made eye contact.

"Miku Hatsune, unit 01 and Luka Megurine, unit 03," the man began speaking, and both of the addressed women stood like statues, not even nodding in acknowledgement, "in this universe plagued with discord, in a time torn and crushed by trillions of different forces, all warring against one another with seemingly no end in sight, you two are to be partnered. You will fight alongside one another always, for the rest of an eternity, and in you I imbed the strongest, purest bond of trust. Before you speak the bond, do either of you have any objections to our choice in your partnership?"

Miku knew that she could speak up and be given very little penalty. She could speak up and ask for a different partner. She stared into the woman's ice blue eyes, waiting for her to make her objections. They both stood there in silence. Why wasn't Luka saying anything? Why wasn't Luka asking for a different partner? The other woman appeared to be waiting for Miku to do the same, and thusly, no objections were voiced.

"Do you agree to your partnership?" asked the man. "Please confirm your bond." For an eternity disguised as a second, neither woman spoke. Then, seemingly reaching an annoyed agreement, they both confirmed the statement.

"I, Luka Megurine, agree to a partnership with Miku Hatsune."

"I, Miku Hatsune, agree to a partnership with Luka Megurine." The crowd murmured upon Miku's response, clearly surprised that neither woman had spoken against their assigned bond.

"Very well, speak the bond." said the man, taking note of every interaction.

"Unit 01, Miku Hatsune," Luka started speaking, "though life around us has turned to chaos, the depths of which can not be known, I pledge always to be by your side and hold your life as I would my own." To Miku's surprise, she had evidently been taught the other half of the speech despite being the same sex. "I bond myself to you, Miku Hatsune, for as long as I can protect your life with mine. I trust myself to you, and for the rest of eternity, pledge to our partnership." she finished. The speech was short, but it was unusual for a partner to modify the original text anyway. Miku began her part of the pledge.

"Unit 03, Luka Megurine, when the future is no longer a thing to be seen, I will stand proudly beside you to face the unknown, never will fear interrupt my attention, I pledge to defend your life as my own." she continued, staring into Luka's eyes as they stood motionlessly before a silent audience, "I bond myself to you, Luka Megurine, for as long as I can protect your life with mine. I trust myself to you, and for the rest of eternity, pledge to our partnership." There was a brief silence in which neither woman breathed before the man spoke again.

"You may begin the bond on the count of three." said the man. Luka raised her arm, not allowing any stiffness to seep into it despite her annoyance, and Miku twirled once, before they resumed their prior stance. The man initiated the countdown, and music played. Luka began to lead Miku, gracefully pulling her through the steps that they had both practiced for an indeterminable amount of hours. They danced elegantly, coming together and dancing apart in an act full of slow spins and idle yet brisk steps. After five minutes, Luka twirled Miku a final time and they came to a stop, standing at the opposing side of the circular platform from the man. They stepped back and bowed to one another, as if entirely unaware of the audience, before standing up. The man nodded, and they began to walk down the path that led to the shared chamber. Once the panel opened and they walked inside, they felt the room rotate in a circular motion with a 'click' so that the next partners would have one of their own. Neither woman spoke. They both occasionally shot glances at one another, but didn't dare act out since any unusual behavior would be filmed and released publicly. They stood there for a considerable portion of time before Miku walked over to the back wall and occupied a solitary couch. Seeing this as a challenge, Luka sat down as well, not allowing herself to be the only one standing as Miku relaxed.

Miku curled up on her end of the couch, making herself comfortable while basking in the annoyance that she was almost certainly causing the other woman. Luka tossed her hair over her shoulder, feigning nonchalance. They felt the room turn in another circular motion and heard a 'click,' signifying that there were probably only fifty more pairs to go before they had to leave. After a long period of silence, Luka heard an almost inaudible purr and turned to glance in disbelief at Miku, who appeared to have fallen asleep. She felt tired simply looking at the other woman, suddenly wanting to curl up and share in her sleep, but she didn't expect to be woken up, and wasn't particularly in favor of living for the rest of eternity inside of the partner room.

After a while, she succumbed to the sleepiness that seemed to be radiating from the other woman and fell into a peaceful slumber. Hours later, she awoke groggily and glanced around the room, feeling the terror of abandonment for a moment before seeing Miku sitting next to her, watching the numbers on the wall. There were only fifteen pairs left. She felt Miku's gaze on her and turned to regard the other woman. Neither partner wanted to back down, and so the accidental glance turned into a full-fledged staring competition that very quickly escalated into awkwardness.

"So we're partners." said Miku, deciding to accept reality.

"Why didn't you say no?" asked Luka, beating the other woman to her point.

"I was waiting for you to say no." Miku responded defensively. Luka responded that she had been waiting for Miku to say no.

"But the world out there is dangerous." said Luka, "Not to mention the universe, and the galaxy. Partnership is a...lifetime commitment. We couldn't just get into it half-heartedly." Miku just shrugged, causing a few strands of teal hair to fall over her shoulder.

"What I'm trying to say is, I don't know why you hated me in the first place, but we really need to end competition now. I'm your partner, and you're mine. We will never have a relationship with anybody else that is stronger nor nearly as intimate as this one. We need to agree to actually be there for one another." Luka said, pausing for a moment before she continued. "I have to trust you."

"I thought I hated you because you...hated...me?" Miku asked questioningly. "Besides, when I spoke the pledge, I meant it."

"You're remembering things incorrectly. You hated me before I hated you." stated Luka, confused.

"No, on the first day after you were put into the training, I went up to you and you entirely avoided me before constantly glaring in my direction." said Miku.

"What?" asked Luka, "Oh, no, I was just really shy. When you approached me, I had no idea what to do, and I freaked out. Then I kept looking at you because I was afraid you'd talk to me again."

"Oh..." muttered Miku, moderately disturbed that it took a lifelong bond for them to discuss this, "But... then you kept trying so hard to... best... me?" she stated confusedly.

"Not at first. Then you started getting angry, so I worked harder." said Luka, "That was when I started to actually fight you." There was a pause.

"...Oh."

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 **A/N: I have many other chapters written. As you can see, the rivalry theme didn't last long enough because I write both characters as rational, so clearly they can just talk it out. Also a note from the me of the past when I didn't think I was publishing this: "** \- Ch. 1 'Together 5ever' (I'd never actually name a chapter like that, but I mean I'm not publishing it, so... Let's bring the pain!) **" As always, please leave your thoughts in the reviews, I really enjoy reading through what you have to say ^-^**


	2. Re-Introductions

**A/N: Since I already have this written, I figured that I might as well post the second chapter today ^-^**

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"So," Luka began, walking down the white-tiled corridor, "if I hadn't walked away...what would you have said?" Miku paused for a moment, thinking.

"I would have said... 'Hi, my name is Miku Hatsune, unit 01. I can't wait to start working with you.' then I would have smiled, probably, and said 'You look nervous. Don't worry, I can already tell you're going to be great!'"

"Oh." said Luka. She paused, entirely uncertain of how to respond to her arch rival turning out to be a good person. After a moment of consideration, she spoke again. "Well then I would have responded: 'Hey, I'm Luka Megurine, unit 03... what happens in the rooms?'" she paused, "I mean I know now, but at the time, I was curious and terrified." Miku was silent for a very long period of time."So I've been angry at you for all of these years purely over a hastily escalating misunderstanding?" she asked.

"Looks like I'm guilty of the same thing." Luka responded, not wanting her to take all of the blame.

"No, but at least you had a reason to. I mean I started acting out based off of a misjudgment that _I_ made, and you started acting out based on my actions." Miku argued. "I could have at least gone up to you a few days later."

"But you thought that when I kept scoring above you and glancing over, that I was being subtly aggressive, so it's understandable that you didn't. And besides, when you kept glancing at me, I made the assumption that you were angry, so we both acted on assumptions at first." Luka explained.

"The feud that we've been undergoing since we were of an eligible age to compete has been purely based off of assumptions." Miku concluded, sounding slightly exasperated.

"It would seem so." Luka responded. They kept walking in silence for another moment before Miku came to stand in front of her, bringing her to a halt and executing a cliché older than time itself.

"Right then. I'm unit 01, Miku Hatsune." she stated, extending a hand. After a moment's hesitation, Luka took the hand and shook it.

"I'm unit 03, Luka Megurine." she said, feeling slightly silly for going through with the significant yet meaningless exchange. After they shook hands, they resumed walking down the hall in a silence that wasn't necessarily uncomfortable.

* * *

Their temporary room was like an apartment used to be, having the necessary number of rooms to sustain bionic lives, but it was not precisely a comfortable and open space. In any regards, it was tremendously larger than the tiny, rectangular bedroom that each new fighter would be given to live in until they passed through their training. Whatever few possessions that they had managed to obtain over the course of their lives were arranged about a small living space before them, which was complete with a couch, table, and bookshelf. After rooting through each of their possessions, they entered the sleeping room and sat down on the bed, facing one another.

"We are supposed to be in this room when the food appears, right?" asked Miku, glancing around. Luka confirmed her suspicions by nodding. After a brief silence that was spent taking in the room around them, Luka was the first to speak.

"What do you suppose it'll be like?" she asked. There was no immediate response.

"The way I hear it, full of chaos and war." Miku responded honestly, knowing full well that the thought terrified both of them despite their training. "Whatever it's like, we were designated partners for a reason. When they put us out there, it'll be because they knew we'd be the best potential partners for one another. We'll have to feel it out first, but I'll have your back."

"And I yours." Luka muttered. After a while, she spoke again. "Do you think we'll actually affect the chaos?"

"There's no way to know for sure until we see what it is that they've been telling us about." Miku responded, turning to Luka with a small smile, "But I'd guess that we have a fighting chance. I might've been frustrated by your constant ability to outrank me by just a few points, but I have no doubts that you're more than my equal in this situation. I also know that I constantly scored second-best, and so I should be a competent partner. Whatever awaits us, we might not be ready, but we're pretty prepared."

A tube slid from the ceiling, hanging just six inches from the bed. Panels on either side of the tube opened so that the partners could see one another, as well as plates of actual food before them. At the sight, Luka's eyes widened considerably, and Miku brought her thumb up to the corner of her mouth slowly to wipe away a bit of drool.

"That's..." Luka muttered.

"Yeah..." Miku responded, transfixed by the real food before them. They both sat forward, eager to dig in, yet making certain to eat the meal slowly so that they could savor the taste of real, pure food that wasn't inorganic goo. Not only wasn't it goo, but it tasted delicious. After taking a few bites, Miku reached to a space between their plates where a note sat, reading it thoroughly. To eat all of the food so suddenly seemed to be a waste, and yet she knew of no alternative, especially with no way to store anything anyway. After almost an hour spent making conversation over a slow meal, the two women sat back, and the tube receded. Miku had passed the note to Luka, and they had both read that they had one week of preparation before being released to the top forever, as was normal. It also suggested pressing their hands together so that they would be able to direct energy as a method of energy sharing, which neither woman had been taught in training. It hadn't been taught in training because various powers were wildly different. Partners were partnered because of multiple factors, one of which would be sharing compatible energy that wouldn't cause any harm to either party. Without knowing their future partners, it was remarkably dangerous to attempt, and they were supposed to complete training alone to assess their partnership potential in the first place, among other things. The only exceptions to that rule had been Rin and Len, who were born twins and instantly assigned partners at birth.

Miku glanced up at Luka, who didn't meet her gaze, and they both decided to wait until the brief conclusion training was offered to test it out, falling asleep instead.

Miku surprised herself by being the first to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised by the comfort of the bed and the fact that, for once, walls were not practically touching both sides of her body. When she had taken the time to get her bearings, she noticed the pink-haired woman beside her and practically jumped out of her skin, barely able to keep herself from instinctively firing a shot of energy at her as she remembered the previous night's partnering ceremony. Exhaling slowly, she felt the muscles in her body slowly relax and sat with her back against the headboard of the bed. She turned her head slightly to regard the face that she had grown to hate, becoming thoroughly confused. She asked herself if Luka had really turned out to be such a decent person, and if it was the truth that she had been stupid enough to start a multi-year long feud over an extremely simple misunderstanding.

Luka's eyes sleepily rolled open before widening considerably. She had also forgotten about the previous night's ceremony, but unlike Miku, she was less physical about expressing it because she was less spontaneous. Miku bid her good morning before automatically changing her clothes with the press of a button as Luka did the same. It wasn't long before breakfast arrived, coming from the ceiling in the same silver tube-like table as it had the previous night. Miku's eyes widened considerably at the meal before her. Not only had she been given dinner in bed, but she had been provided with a delicious looking breakfast consisting of real food. They both ate it slowly and sparingly, but also hurrying to enjoy the taste of unfamiliar foods such as toasted bread and a substance that looked sort of like the goo that they were fed, but was yellow and of a much more delicious consistency. Alongside that, there was an orange beverage that was thicker than water and tasted like fruit, which in its solid form was an extreme rarity around the training center.

"Do you like the color teal?" Luka asked out of nowhere. Miku blinked.

"I haven't really thought about it before." she responded after a moment, taking it into consideration. "The walls in this place have no color, and before I was training-ready, I suppose it was the only color I saw. I think I like it, yes, why do you ask?"

"Your uniform is themed in teal, and I was curious. You wear an abundance of it, and so I was unsure as to whether or not you chose it that way or that was your natural assignment, since I had thought that we were assigned uniforms in a mostly random fashion, as well as physical traits." Luka responded. This was the first mundane conversation either of them had ever had that didn't revolve somewhat around training.

"Did you get a practice doll?" Miku asked after a moment's pause. Luka nodded and raised her hand. Momentarily, a stuffed pink octopus was taken into the room and set by her side. She finished the last of the food, and the table went back into the ceiling. Placing her hand on the creature's head, which looked a bit like an extremely simplified version of her face, Luka channeled her energy through the doll. Eventually, she removed her hand and had it walk around on its eight legs, jumping and dealing tiny attacks that would cause no harm. Miku had floated what appeared to be a stuffed tinier version of herself and brought it to life. Smiling slightly, Luka channeled a bit of her energy through one of her stuffed-animal's front tentacles, making sounds that were similar to gunshots in a videogame with her mouth. The energy hit Miku's, and she manipulated it to make it appear as if the tiny stuffed animal was hurt, stumbling back a little. She then channeled a harmless amount of her energy through a tall, greenish plush vegetable in her stuffed-animal's hand and had it hit her opponent's plush. Luka made the creature stumble backwards on its eight legs before declaring war.

Quickly, both women were moving their stuffed-animals in a fast-paced battle, still remaining careful not to deal any actual damage. Elegant leaps and dodges were tossed into the mix, soon creating an elaborate battle scene as they both expertly manipulated their lifetime possessions. Miku moved her doll to attack Luka's physically, still making certain to be too gentle to cause harm, but when contact was made, she nearly dropped it entirely. An unfamiliar energy coursed through her veins, surprising her with it's different feel. Not knowing what to do, she channeled it back into her stuffed-animal and saw it shoot out from the place where both creatures were touching, crashing into the wall and leaving a scorch mark.

"I..." Miku tried to find the words to apologize, but she was still slightly dazed, absentmindedly levitating her stuffed-animal into her lap.

"I'm sorry!" Luka beat her to it, provoking confusion from Miku. "I-I don't know what happened, I just felt... I'm sorry!"

"What?" Miku's confusion intensified, before turning to shock. The other woman appeared to be terror-stricken and on the verge of tears. "Luka, I don't know what you mean." Miku explained, having absolutely no experience calming anyone down.

"Don't you see? The m-mark on the wall that I just made." Luka had actually begun to cry, and Miku shifted a bit closer to her, still entirely unaware of how she could make the other woman calm down.

"Luka, I thought I made it." she responded.

"But I...I p-pushed the energy through my hand b-because it was unfamiliar and it felt weird-" Luka began, breaking off once she met Miku's gaze and realized that she wasn't angry.

"There's no reason to get upset about it, I'm not angry and the wall's repairing itself anyway." Miku said, pointing to the almost entirely pristine space to her right. "Besides, I thought that I was the one who pushed the energy... You don't need to cry, I wouldn't get angry at you even if it was your fault."

"You're not mad at me?" Luka asked shakily. Miku had absolutely never seen the other woman in even the slightest of a vulnerable position, and she was thoroughly out of her comfort zone.

"No, not at all." On top of her empathy, there was an echo of something else. Miku felt as if she had two entirely separate tracks of emotion that were somehow one at the same time. Deciding to push her luck and experiment a bit, she exhaled, relaxing all of the muscles in her body and becoming calm. As she did that, she saw an extremely subtle change in the other woman. Suddenly she smiled, laughing a little bit and provoking an indignant response from Luka.

"I think we just mixed energy, like the instructions that the card gave us last night." she said, responding to the incredulous look that she was being given. Realization dawned on Luka and she appeared to entirely calm down. Miku felt the last traces of the other woman's emotions leave her body, and was subconsciously disappointed, wanting to share energy again.

"That was..." Luka muttered, not finishing her sentence.

"Yeah." Miku responded. They both got lost in thought for a long while before Miku's mind clicked, reminding her that she and Luka would have to be at the conclusion training in five minutes. Exiting the bed and cleansing her teeth with a 'click', she reminded a still dazed Luka of the time, provoking similar actions from her before they both left the room.

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 **A/N: Things are off to a slow start but you know me, I like to lay the foundation for a story before telling it (in most scenarios). As usual, please feel free to post your thoughts in the reviews, I am a growing author and I can use all of the input that I can get. With that, see you next chapter!**


	3. Fight! Fight! Fall in Love!

Instantly, fighting was different. Miku was very glad that they were being given conclusion training, because the things that she was learning would be incredibly unfortunate to discover on the battlefield. Fighting on a one-person team allowed her much free space, and she didn't really have to watch her moves because there was only her and her opponent, meaning that she could deal damage wherever she wanted to. Although she prided herself in her consistent pinpoint accuracy, making certain that her body was in a strategic location when near Luka was a test. The instructor had mentioned that he was surprised neither of them crashed into one another, which Miku supposed meant that although she felt like she was doing everything wrong, they were both professional and compatible, which gave them a fighting chance. With a renewed vigor every time that she began a new round with Luka, Miku tried to prove herself to the other woman as best she could.

She instantly learned that, while she enjoyed being in the air while she was using her powers, Luka preferred to be on the ground, making it easy to stick to their preferences without getting in one another's way. The thing that she was most focused on was going beyond simply 'not getting in each other's ways', she wanted to make it so that their moves worked together to make the attacks and defenses better. Towards the end of their required training session, Miku still hadn't achieved her goal. She felt how hard Luka was working and knew that the other woman was trying, and sure, they were landing blows at strategic intervals, but there was still something missing. They both agreed to stay late and practice, briefly exiting the training arena for lunch, which was surprisingly real food once again. Upon reentering the training room to meet their instructor, Miku was met with something that she wasn't expecting. Sharp blades were hurled at her face before she had any time to react, but they froze in mid-air just within an inch of their target. Beside her, Luka had her hand outstretched, mostly displaying no emotion excluding the shock and concentration behind her eyes. With ease, she twirled the blades around in the air so that they were suspended before her. Miku saw a flash and didn't even know that she had moved before she looked to see her left arm outstretched, and another set of knives within inches of her partner's face.

Done being frozen in place, she hurled five of the six weapons back to their original owner, causing them to spin about unpredictably in the air so that it would be difficult for anyone to block her. When she didn't feel them hit home, she was surprised and off put, eyeing the ledge across the humungous arena curiously. They came flying back at her, and this time she was prepared, summoning up a bit of her energy before leaping straight at them and vanishing alongside them, popping up right in front of the ledge as she translated their momentum into something that could actually allow her to move during teleportation. She hurled the knives repeatedly before her, using her other hand to possess the soles of her shoes and keep her afloat. Finally feeling her weapons make contact with something, she jammed them foreword, instantly letting go as she felt electricity on the line. Realizing what it was a second too late, she ran through the air, barely diving in time to miss the line of knives that had been shot at her from the entire wall. Shielding her fall before she hit the ground running, she gave herself a speed boost and tore the knives out of the wall where they stuck, launching them back at their source with all of her strength. Meanwhile, Luka had gone into action. As everyone was occupied with Miku, she fell into the ground, using her powers to make herself into a shadow as she attached herself to her partner, matching her pace exactly and shifting to look like the silhouette of the other woman. Miku could feel a familiar surge of energy by her feet, but didn't allow herself to be distracted by it, instead using it to her advantage and adding extra force to her throws. She heard a few small explosions, seeing smoke coming from the ledge above and smiled. Certainly, she broke the training machines, but they shouldn't have been left on anyway. She didn't have time to acknowledge the sensation that the extra energy gave her, because physical enemies had appeared. Trusting Luka to be tied to her, Miku ducked to the side and shot herself behind a barrier before the new enemies could see her. Luka, being a shadow, slightly added to her dimensions as she peered around the edge unnoticed. Miku almost made a noise as she saw what Luka could see, surprised but silent. She supposed that since they were sharing powers, whatever one woman did with her abilities, the other woman would be able to do with ease. Miku couldn't communicate with Luka verbally, but she didn't need to. She could practically feel the other woman's thoughts coursing through her veins. They were abstract and hard to catch, but she sent a bit of her energy back, and the bond became crystal clear. It wasn't so much as exchanging actual words, but Miku actually had Luka's thoughts, and vise versa. The ideas that Luka had were similarly expressed in Miku's mind without the other woman needing to convey them. With Luka as her lookout, Miku understood that the enemy was extremely tall and covered in muscles. Its skin looked like it could kill upon physical contact, and it had no actual 'weapons', per-se, but its mouth was jammed full of so many teeth that it looked like it couldn't open nor close it. It did, with the mouth expanding in a surprising manner like a yawn, and Miku realized with a start that it was scenting the air. She heard it let out a roar before charging and curled into a ball, producing a portal around herself and her partner before latching onto the monster and using its momentum to silently launch herself in the opposite direction, getting to the other side of the vast arena just as it reached them. Miku knew that her abilities alone shouldn't be enough to destroy it without seriously injuring herself.

Feeling her thoughts, Luka extended an arm to the still-kneeling Miku and they pressed their hands together. Miku felt Luka's unusual energy playing around her fingertips and mixing with her own as she responded by sharing back. A sudden surge of power had both women push their energy outwards. White-hot yet dark energy shot through the air, tearing through the very barrier that the synthesized opponent was behind and piercing its entire body before disintegrating it entirely. Both women were quite surprised, and they made no sound, but felt one another's breathing as they observed what was just a tiny bit of their combined power. Luka thought that she was very certain of why they had been assigned partners, and Miku agreed, the edges of her mouth curling upward slightly. Neither of them moved for a moment before they relinquished their grip on one another and Luka became three-dimensional and multi-chromatic again. They looked at one another, still feeling the buzz of each other's emotions within their heads. Eventually, Miku made a mouse out of light and sent it scurrying across the floor, checking for traps. Upon finding nothing, she made it into a humungous boulder in-case it was size activated, but the arena appeared to be clear, and she returned the light to her body, standing up as Luka did the same.

After a minute, she noticed Luka staring at her pointedly, and realized that they were still feeling one another's emotions to an extent, but their thought-sharing was gone.

"I can't feel your thoughts anymore." she explained. Luka nodded, mouthing an 'ah.'

"I was saying that I'm ready for the next round when you are." she said. Miku grinned, already beginning to enjoy this sudden development, responding with her agreement.

* * *

Miku smiled exhaustedly at Luka, leaning on the other woman's shoulder.

"One more time?" Luka asked for the fifteenth time. Miku was about to nod before she heard a click in her head, and her eyes widened.

"Luka, I want to, but it's time to have some dinner and go to sleep." she explained. Luka tilted her head upwards to regard the windows that lined the very tops of the walls of the arena, surprised to see that it was quite dark. Eventually she scratched the back of her head awkwardly, returning Miku's tired grin. She started to walk, feeling the other woman fall naturally into step beside her as if things had always been that way. They had gotten back to their room by the time that the fatigue hit them full force, Miku falling onto the mattress face-first and Luka lying on her back and staring at the ceiling. The second that they were on the bed, the table made its descent, opening up to reveal a new dinner that was also real food. Luka managed to make herself sit up, but Miku just groaned into her pillow and waved an arm half-heartedly at the meal.

"Miku, you're starving." said Luka, before taking a bite of her food. She knew that the other woman couldn't argue since they were still both feeling a little bit of one another's emotions and thoughts, and the latter allowed Luka as much evidence as she needed.

"Cheater." Miku responded, muffled by her pillow. Eventually, she pushed herself up and turned around to sag onto the table, trying to make it look as if she were eating with hesitance while she was enjoying the meal, and fully aware that the other woman could feel her enthusiasm despite her efforts. Luka smiled and began light conversation with less difficulty than before. When the meal was done, they both fell onto the bed and drifted to sleep almost instantly.

* * *

Miku was once again the first to wake up. Thanks to her mental timer, she had still been able to get enough sleep to perform well, but she sincerely didn't feel like sitting up whatsoever. Her muscles ached in a peculiar way that was as if it were from exercise, yet not entirely unpleasant, probably because of the energy. Eventually, she cracked her eyes open slightly to see the still sleeping Luka before closing them again. It already felt so natural for them to be partners, and yet just two days before, they had been at one another's throats. Eventually, she heard the other woman's breath hitch and knew that it was time to wake up. She sat up and stretched, waiting for Luka to pull herself into the same position so that breakfast would appear. The pink-haired woman was physically expressing the same sentiments that Miku had been feeling as she quite clearly didn't want to get up. After she opened her eyes slightly to see Miku waiting for her, she sighed and pushed herself up, almost accidentally throwing herself off of the bed entirely with her exaggerated distaste for the morning.

Stifling a small laugh as the other woman gave her a glare that could probably cut glass, Miku saw the table come down. They spoke a lot over breakfast and played with their dolls again, making them fight in increasingly elaborate fashions before it was time to go to training. Training only increased their bond and they hastily blew through many levels, topping the charts as a team as opposed to battling one another for first place. They smugly smiled at one another upon noticing that they had a few thousand more points than the nearest competition in second place. Miku barely remembered to eat lunch when she felt Luka's intense hunger and led her out of the room after they had completed the level, noticing that she was nearly as hungry as the other woman herself. They enjoyed one another's company for a while before returning to the training arena. Evidently, a 'boss battle' came at the end of the week to send each new pair off, and neither woman could be more excited.

* * *

 **A/N: This is a slightly shorter chapter than you're used to, because I looked at the size of the upcoming related material and realized that it would have made this chapter waaay too long. I had a lot of fun writing the fight scenes in this, I hope you guys had some fun reading it too! As per usual, feel free to tell me your thoughts in the reviews because I live to learn. Until the next chapter!**


	4. Put 'Em To The Test

**A/N: Time for the boss level.**

* * *

"Okay..." a voice spoke from overhead as Luka and Miku fought against the ferocious beast. They were doing a pretty good job, but it was an extremely difficult level, especially since they had practically _flown_ up multiple skill levels during training.

"And what if your partner is out?" continued the voice. Luka had been about to deal a blow in mid air when she fell limp. No longer using her powers to suspend herself, she dropped like a rock. Without thinking, Miku launched herself into the other woman and curled into a protective ball around her, using her powers to let her roll onto her feet on the ground without causing any damage to either of them. Setting Luka delicately against a wall of the arena, she covered her with a light shield before throwing herself into the air and using a blade of energy to tear through the tall beast's humungous eyes, landing on the opposing end of the arena. It swung an arm blindly and she used the momentum to teleport herself back to Luka before sending a false blast of energy through the portal to convince the monster that she was still on the other side. Thinking quickly, she grabbed Luka's hand and held it, searching for but not extracting any energy. What she felt was dormant, signifying that the other woman was simply asleep under a very simple spell. Throwing two more false blasts at the beast to keep it occupied, she used her pointer finger to carefully send a tiny dagger of energy into the sleep-field that was trapping Luka's powers. Once she pierced through it, careful not to hurt Luka, she channeled her energy into the other woman freely, feeling the rest of the sleep spell leave and seep into the air before dissipating entirely. Luka awoke with a start, eyes flying open to survey the scene around her even though she could see through Miku's.

Once she realized that she wasn't about to die, she felt relief that was immediately replaced with vigor as she got to her feet, squeezing Miku's hand once before going to attack the beast head-on. Creating a humungous blade out of shadows, Luka tore through the beast's flesh, trying to behead it to no avail. Its skin was thick, and it would be difficult to cut through the bone. She landed on the other side, about to get hit by one of the beast's many large hands before Miku appeared above her, took her, and pulled her through a portal just as Luka had trusted her to do. Miku held onto her before taking both of her arms in her own from behind and hastily channeling herself onto both so that she created an elaborate rune, seemingly made out of pure light. Luka was fully awake as she felt the other woman's power mix with hers and instantly knew how to use it to her advantage. Bending down onto the ground with a shared idea, she pushed an incredibly strong wave of energy from her fingertips. Focusing incredibly as she felt Miku pushing with her, they focused their mixed energy into waves of burning, freezing dark light that seemed to consume the creature from the ground up before it fell, prompting Luka to dive out of the way as Miku gave her a speed-boost and mild teleportation. The beast's body when down took up almost the entire arena. Miku was about to split off, but Luka reminded her that the beast couldn't be killed unless they shared their energy, and she felt her understanding. Miku tossed them into the air and Luka produced two humungous blades, trying to drill them into the creature's stomach but barely getting anywhere before losing momentum.

Miku remembered something and shared her idea with Luka, who launched herself into the air, formed another blade, and tried to send it through the monster's eyes to fracture its skull. The monster's head broke before it disintegrated into pixels and the partners became two people again, giving one another very faint smiles of exhaustion. Briefly, Miku thought that they actually weren't supposed to beat that, seeing as some exams were only meant to test how far you could go. Luka considered it for a moment, liking her partner's confidence in their ability but suspecting otherwise. Miku thought that Luka was right, but they still did an amazing job in the fight, and Luka agreed that they were really awesome. Eventually, the voice came over the overhead speaker again, dismissing them, and they left to sit in a room full of partners who had finished their exams.

* * *

"Don't worry!" Len rushed up to them before either could do so much as make an expression, "I know you're a perfectionist, but you weren't supposed to actually beat the boss. Please don't feel bad!" Miku smirked at Luka, who shook her head, admitting the fact that the other woman had been right despite it being originally intended as a tease.

"Oh." Len continued, noticing Luka. He glanced to Miku before looking at Rin, who had materialized beside him to inspect the partners. Miku smiled awkwardly.

"This is Luka." she introduced. "We were wrong... she's actually really nice." she explained, knowing full well that Luka could feel concern radiating from her in waves.

"Really?" Len appeared really curious, forgetting boundaries and going to look at the pink-haired woman closer.

"That's great!" Rin appeared less sure, rolling her eyes at her brother's behavior. Luka, for her part, was frozen. She was reminded for the first time in a while that she and Miku had been enemies once, and it made her feel unhappy. Luka nodded, seeing as what she was feeling could only be described as 'unhappy' because it wasn't mild displeasure nor intense sadness. It just startled her for a moment and made her slightly concerned, nervous, and outcast. Miku could feel this, and wondered if it would be alright to squeeze her hand outside of the arena. Luka thought that she really would like that, and Miku almost died because she forgot that they could still vaguely feel one another's thoughts. Regardless, she subtly took Luka's hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to reassure her that she was not an outcast. Miku thought that it was truly her fault, and that Rin and Len easily started to like new people, so Luka shouldn't be worried even though emotions don't follow logic. Luka felt slightly more relaxed, but understandably, the feeling from before took a moment to fade away despite her partner's hand and kind thoughts.

"...and I really just can't wait to see!" Len finished. Neither woman had been listening to whatever it was he had been ranting about, but Miku assured her that he would probably reiterate the idea a few hundred times. With that thought, their connection's slowly fading strength prevented them from any more mental communication. Instead, Miku just squeezed Luka's hand again and smiled slightly in reassurance while keeping her eyes on the twins. Rin still looked skeptical, but she kept her mouth shut for the time being. She didn't trust the other woman not to hurt her friend, and yet having had a partner since birth, she could easily tell that they had a remarkably clean mental communication. Despite herself, she kept quiet, watching the way that they interacted. Eventually, Len finished talking, and they all went to sit down on a couch. After twenty minutes had passed in light conversation, the door opened and allowed a familiar blue-haired young man to enter the room, quickly followed by a brown-haired woman. They noted Luka and the blue-haired man waved before he saw Miku and almost choked. Sensing the predicament, the woman had pulled him back a step just before he would have choked, successfully startling him out of it. They approached the partners confusedly and looked down at them.

"Hey Luka." said Meiko. Luka greeted her, wearing the awkward smile that Miku had worn just minutes before.

"Hello Meiko." she responded.

"Nice partner you got there." Meiko got straight to the point. She was Rin's level of protective, and unlike the twin, she hadn't witnessed the partners interact nor had enough experience with partnership to notice mutuality.

"Meiko..." Luka began awkwardly, "we made a... considerably sizable mistake."

"Looks like it." Meiko snorted, "What, did she stop you from saying no during the ceremony, or were you not thinking at the time?" Luka felt Miku freeze up considerably and tightened her grip on the other woman's hand, feeling her extreme shame. She subtly rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb in an attempt to reassure her before continuing.

"No, Meiko, I mean _we_ made a mistake." she said again, motioning with her free hand to herself and the brown-haired woman. "Miku's actually... really, really nice." Meiko gazed at the teal-haired woman skeptically as she stared holes into the couch, clutching the hem of her skirt with her free hand.

"It was all my fault." she said. Luka noticed with surprise that she could hear tears on her voice, realizing that the emotion-sharing feature was becoming muted as their link faded. She had no idea why such a tiny event could make the teal-haired woman break into tears, and yet there she was. "I really didn't mean to hurt or outcast Luka at all..." she continued. "I misinterpreted something that happened on the first day, and it all went downhill from there... I really didn't mean it, I'm so sorry!" somehow she managed not to stutter, embarrassedly wiping away her tears with her free hand. Suddenly, Luka felt a strong connection once again despite no energy being exchanged. She could hear Miku's thoughts loud and clear. The other woman's mind was moving so quickly and she was so humiliated by the fact that she couldn't stop herself from crying in front of a stranger and her partner. She kept calling herself deficient over and over again. Luka wanted nothing more than to hug her, but thought that the action would be inappropriate given the fact that there were many new people around, and it would make Miku appear lesser than she was. Instead, Luka just took her second hand and entirely covered Miku's, uncertain of what to do. Evidently, Meiko was more experienced in those kind of situations. She ruffled the younger woman's hair, smiling a little.

"Hmm... What do you think, Kaito? I like her already." she said confidently. The blue-haired man was looking at her, scandalized.

"That was not nice!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands out so that they fell by his sides, fingers still partially extended.

"I had to give her 'the test.'" she responded simply, waving her hand in a dismissive motion. During their play-fight, Miku had had the time to compose herself and was sitting up fully, with nothing but a slight blush as evidence of her previous state. Luka looked at the other woman's hair, briefly wanting to ruffle it in the same manner as Meiko had moments before. She returned her attention to Meiko and Kaito, who were still arguing.

"But it's what I do, see, she's fine now." Meiko finished explaining, motioning to Miku, who waved shyly. Kaito paused in his argument and turned to her more fully, slightly embarrassed for not introducing himself.

"Wow that was a horrible way to introduce ourselves..." he mumbled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Kaito, and that joker is Meiko. She's very kind, but... 'playful' with new acquaintances."

"Standing _right here_." said Meiko. She broke into a warm smile. "Wow, though. _That's_ second place. Always pictured her as an aloof, stone-hearted rogue, but... I like this one better." Miku didn't know whether or not that was an insult or a compliment, but she tried to take it as the latter. Luka had somehow managed to edge closer to her and get her arm slightly behind Miku's back, not that the other woman was complaining. Kaito helped Meiko pick up a smaller couch and bring it to sit across from the four people who took up the large one, effectively cutting off the rest of the partners in the room from their conversation. They all spoke for a while, with Luka and Meiko growing increasingly annoyed by the shyness of their partners when faced with one another. Miku could still faintly feel her partner's emotions, and asked about the annoyance through curiosity, but received a gentle shrug.

Eventually, two hours after the final partners had finished their exam, the scores were announced publicly. Luka nudged Miku and nodded her head towards their score, smiling. They had scored exceptionally, and evidently they were the only people to actually kill their monster. Miku smiled confidently back at her before Meiko and Kaito approached, and her confidence was replaced with shyness since she still felt as if she owed them something. Meiko petted her head again and Kaito quietly told them that they did a really good job. Len and Rin had not held anything back when they had gone to congratulate them, and Miku smiled, glad to see that they weren't treating Luka unfairly. Suddenly extremely tired, Miku realized that it was a while after her clock had gone off, and that they should get to sleep. She fell into bed with Luka and ate a hasty dinner before cleansing herself and falling almost immediately asleep beside her partner.

* * *

 **A/N: I think I'm glad that I finally decided to post this! ^-^ As per usual, feel free to leave thoughts and comments for me in the reviews, I love to hear what you have to say and input is always welcome!**


	5. Goodbye Order, Hello Chaos

Miku awoke in the middle of the night, feeling sudden, extreme levels of stress and fear. She looked hurriedly around, thoroughly confused as to why she was so terrified before she realized that the emotions weren't her own. She turned to see Luka quivering under the blankets, and tentatively reached out to grab her shoulder and wake her up. Wide awake, Luka still didn't appear to acknowledge that it wasn't a dream. Her mind was like a barrier, and Miku couldn't communicate with her, so instead she just threw her arms around the other woman and held her tightly to herself. Eventually, Luka's sobbing calmed down and she recognized where she was, slowly curling her fingers into the back of Miku's sleep shirt in an attempt to return the embrace. When she was calm enough, Miku laid her back down, releasing her just a bit so that she could look into her eyes without it being uncomfortable. She waited for Luka to be ready to say what had happened, rubbing her back and whispering nonsense to calm her down. Finally, Luka felt ready to speak.

"You die." she whimpered, starting to cry just after she had stopped. Miku tried to wipe away the tears, shushing her lightly. Luka pulled her closer and clung to her, and Miku hugged back, not knowing what to do.

"No, Luka. I don't die." she responded softly. "What kind of a partner would I be if I left you all alone, feeling like you are now?" Luka sniffed and clutched her shirt, not responding.

"It felt so real..." she muttered into Miku's shoulder.

"I can imagine..." Miku responded, "Did you feel my pain in the dream?" such an event could easily terrify someone, even if it was only in a dream. Luka shook her head no, prompting confusion from Miku. The shorter woman tried to move her head to look at her, but they were pressed too firmly together, and it didn't seem like Luka planned on moving even the slightest bit. Instead of responding right away, she just stroked the other woman's back, waiting for her to slowly relax.

"It was only a dream." she murmured eventually. "I'm right here, and I always will be." Luka wanted to believe what she had said, but she was still skeptical.

"I dreamt that you die in the future..." she muttered, sounding like a child. Miku didn't understand why the idea caused her so much pain, but she supposed that being alone in the mysterious upperworld without a partner would be a horrifying idea. Thinking of Luka in such a situation gave Miku a renewed vigor to survive.

"It was just a nightmare, Luka." she responded, "Unless we both have time powers, you shouldn't be dreaming of the future. It was just a bad dream." She shivered and moved an arm to pull the blankets back around them. "We both know I'd never let that happen, because I'll never leave you behind." she surprised herself with her own words, but that was what tended to happen in middle-of-the-night sleep discussions. Luka was quiet for a long time, and eventually, Miku lifted her chin so that she could bury her head in the crook of her neck, allowing her to properly cradle the pink-haired woman. She felt fresh tears, but there weren't many of them, and soon they were gone.

"For both of our lives, _every_ moment has led up to this." Luka stated just as Miku was about to doze off. She understood that they were both slightly afraid of the unknown.

"It's a big event, yeah. But you won't be tackling it alone." she reassured her.

"I know that, and yet... saying it makes such a huge difference." Luka stated honestly.

"Trust me," Miku smirked, "if the partners system is anything like it sounds, you'll be so 'not alone' that you'll want to get rid of me."

"I doubt I'd ever want that..." Luka murmured sleepily, snuggling a bit deeper into the crook of the other woman's neck.

"That's good..." Miku responded, placing her hand on the back of Luka's head and lazily playing in her hair. "'cause you're stuck with me..."

"And you're stuck with me..." Luka murmured. They fell asleep that way.

* * *

The following morning, both women woke up late but refreshed from a long night's sleep. Miku was the first one to wake up yet again, but her mobility was very limited seeing as she had somehow managed to complicate her embrace with Luka overnight, requiring the other woman to release her. She noticed with moderate relief that Luka had not, in fact, suffocated herself on her neck, and had instead shifted slightly in her sleep in order to breathe properly. The position that they were in meant very little to them besides shared affection, seeing as the subject of romance wasn't very interesting for the trainees to explore, not to mention physical intimacies. Miku had certainly never gotten into reading about it besides the mandatory education, and it was unlikely that Luka got much farther than her, and so to them, it was a simple expression of their care for one another. Eventually Luka woke up and lay there for a minute before she realized that she was still clutching Miku and let the young woman go. They sat up and ate a leisurely breakfast before staying in bed for a while, talking.

Eventually, they cleansed themselves and hung around their apartment before heading outside. Considering that they had the entire day to themselves, they revisited all of the places that they had ever been, stopping by the place where they had come to life inside of their life-sustaining tubes. After waiting for a considerable bit of time, a doctor was ready to see them, and took four samples from them before dismissing them. It was of course required for partners to offer organic matter in order to ensure the strength of future generations. Once that was over, they decided to go to the 'before' simulator, which was a peaceful location to hang out. It was supposed to represent whatever nature looked like before everything fell to chaos. There was green stuff on the ground that was about an inch tall and came in many thin blades that could not actually cut without considerable effort. Water ran around a tiny inflation in the green stuff as if it were supposed to be there as opposed to in storage compartments, and Luka often found herself wondering if it was really how things used to be. From the inflation in the ground rose a dark substance called wood with green at its top that was different from the green on the floor. From something that branched out of the large wood, there was a suspended swing.

They lay in the fake sun for a while before Miku grew devilish and pushed Luka into the water. Luka responded by pulling Miku in, and the latter noticed very abruptly that the water was quite cold. She splashed Luka, who splashed back, and by the time they were done, they were both entirely drenched. After a while, they left the room, where the were dried and decontaminated.

"I don't think that they have any decontamination booths up there..." Miku muttered absentmindedly.

"Gross..." muttered Luka. "How do they keep clean?"

"I think they just use water. That's what it said in the books, right?" Miku responded. Luka thought, and then nodded.

"How can water make you clean?" she asked confusedly. Miku shook her head.

"We probably shouldn't be able to drink the same water that we cleanse ourselves in." she deduced. They played around like children, running through the halls and then stopping abruptly upon sensing someone approaching, pretending in an exaggerated fashion to be mature and adult. The day passed lazily, although both women made sure to do a few last practice sessions in the training room, and it wound up with them back in bed, uncertain of what to do with themselves.

"I wonder what the airship will look like..." Miku daydreamed, feeling oddly positive.

"I wonder if the walls will be white or if they'll have color." Luka muttered. "If it's anything like the simulator, there will be a lot of unevenness and color. I hope that's how it is... I wonder how many colors there are." Eventually, they both fell asleep. Miku took Luka's hand so that she wouldn't worry.

* * *

When morning broke, they both took special time eating their food, making certain that they couldn't eat any more before getting cleansed and dressed. Their possessions were already loaded for them, and all that they had to do was get onto the airship and wait. Of course, waiting was the difficult part. Sitting down on a moderately comfortable bench that lined one wall of the airship, Miku and Luka remained very close to one another. Miku felt a chill run down her spine and noticed Luka feeling the same, and realized that it was because of the silence. Never before had silence been eery. Deciding to speak, Miku made light conversation with her partner, slowly getting to know her better. They were in the middle of discussing how unprofessional they had both started when Rin and Len boarded the airship, followed by a few other people from the same class. Miku sat back and quietly slid her hand into Luka's, a practice that had become very common as of late. Rin and Len smiled confidently at them, but it was clear that they were nervous too.

"We're not actually supposed to be on here. It's sorted by rank." whispered Rin, "But we wanted to bid you guys good luck."

Luka smiled, and Miku tried to as they thanked her. There was barely anybody that they knew very well on the ship, and Luka was relieved as she saw Meiko and Kaito enter a bit later than everyone else. Under Luka and Meiko's silent agreement, the latter sat next to Miku as opposed to Kaito, sparing them both any unnecessary tension. After a very long stretch of time that everyone spent trying to be calm, people entered the ship to make certain that everyone was there. One of the assistants called an affirmative over their earpiece and waited. Finally the ship began to take off. Luka squeezed Miku's hand and received firm pressure back and a small smile.

"In the event that you are asked to return, you will bring your partner under all circumstances." an attendant advised. "Yes, this does include death."

Miku felt Luka tense up and leaned over to whisper in her ear.

"I'm not leaving you if you won't leave me. Don't worry." she said. She felt Luka nod, and wished that she could do more to calm her down besides whisper statements that she couldn't presently prove, but there was little else. The flight lasted just over an hour. When it was finally time to get off, Miku felt Luka tense up considerably, and led her by her hand to where they would be standing together in line, sharing mental reassurances that no one else could hear so as not to accidentally embarrass her. Finally, they all exited the room and entered a building that was not white inside. Being professional, neither Luka nor Miku showed anything, but they could feel one another's emotions very intensely, and knew that the location was strange. Luka was nervous, but she liked the excitement, while Miku was reserved but extremely curious. Both of them were slightly afraid, but they had also been built to anticipate the moment for the entirety of their lives, and so they were filled with more interest than fear. The building was instantly very different from their old home. As previously mentioned, color was everywhere, and although it appeared well-kept, the walls and floors had actual textures, and the lights didn't come through the ceiling but actually hung from it in public view.

Miku guessed that the building was quite extravagant for an alleged 'time of chaos', but she supposed that a building that had to house all of the new recruits would need to be big. This was the one place that their precise ranks were disguised. As opposed to everyone knowing that Luka and Miku were top scorers and the pair in front of them probably scored fourth, they simply knew that the particular ship that they arrived in packed soldiers of a higher class. Their group was greeted by four commanders. Miku met each of their gazes, noticing that they all looked hardened and exhausted. Although she respected their experience, she didn't act unusual, and simply waited for instructions as if she possessed her characteristic mild arrogance.

"Listen up." one of the commanders spoke. It wasn't harsh, and he clearly wanted to display that he wasn't an enemy, but he also needed to show that he was in charge. "As of this evening, you're officially adults, which means you fend for yourselves. You will be listed as soldiers for hire, but it is entirely up to you to complete your objectives and report back to myself or one of the other commanders. A word of advice to the loyal ones: At least four of the people in your group are going to betray us. Do not grow attached to anyone besides your partner. I make this same speech every year, but people always wind up damaged and surprised anyway."

Miku was extremely glad that Luka had turned out to be a really great person as opposed to her rival.

"If you get lost, we will not send people to find you." he continued. "You are valuable to us, but remember, even the closest people to me could potentially betray me, excluding my partner. If you are gone for long, we either expect you to be back whenever your mission is complete, or assume betrayal. Sending search parties is also not an option because people would die without proper coordinates. I'd like to slowly let you adjust to the lifestyle here, but there is simply no way to protect you for very long. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and unfortunately, you need to learn that as fast as you can. I wish things weren't like this, but this is chaos."

Miku felt Luka drop her nervousness and begin to assess what he was saying through pure logic.

"Tomorrow, you will all be in charge of going out there and changing the world as you see fit. Mind you, we will do everything in our power to kill you if you become an enemy of this agency, because we want to win the war as much as anyone else does. Fortunately, the majority of soldiers tend to stay with us, because unlike other troops, we have morals and actually want a better world. Unfortunately, a better world can simply not be achieved at this point without violence. However that saying goes, 'no peace without violence' or whatever.

"You're allowed to stay in this place for a day, but honestly, I'd suggest running to your rooms as fast as your legs can take you, picking up your possessions and loading them into your belt, and then going to the field. The longer you stay, the harder it is to leave." he concluded, turning to his partner.

"Additionally, you'll want food." she began. "In the cafeteria, you can load the canteens on your belts with enough virtual food to last a month, although there's no guarantee that someone won't steal it if you are unfortunate enough to meet a rogue or enemy soldier right off the bat. For those of you with healing abilities..." she paused, stepping back a bit, " _lucky!_ If you can use them right, you'll be able to stop hunger and restore your bodies, but I'm assuming you've learned that in training already. There are a lot of convenient uses for your abilities that don't entirely consist of attacking. I'd suggest investigating them a bit while you're out there if you haven't already."

Miku subconsciously created a tiny butterfly of light and had it flutter around her free hand before making it disappear into her palm. She had most certainly used her powers for things besides attacking, especially since she was supposed to be a healer who had something to do with time, relatively gentle aspects when not considered in-depth. She briefly remembered her first day of training. She had been the first soldier to be released, giving her a few extra days before Rin and Len appeared, followed by Luka.

* * *

 **A/N: Erm... Something clever to say... It's hard when I post all of the chapters at once because I need to think of what I wanna say and then come up with summarizing conclusions because I like to talk to you guys. In the next chapter, we'll finally see whatever has become of the outside world! As per usual, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the reviews, or just shoot me a message (I kinda like to talk if you couldn't tell), and that should be it until next chapter!**


	6. Outside

_Entering the small room, Miku was surprised to see that it transformed into a humungous arena. There were many similar rooms lining the hallways of her training center, and she vaguely wondered if they were all that big before she saw her opponent, a scraggly-looking humanoid with translucent-green skin. Thirteen year old Miku watched it with curiosity, not approaching it nor walking away. It slowly began to come up to her, and she began to read an extremely bad aura from it. Suddenly very nervous, she considered her skills. She knew how to heal herself, yes, and she knew how to make things levitate... Frantically, she asked herself what she could possibly use either of those abilities for. The creature noticed her concern and smiled a menacing, sharp, tooth-filled grin before charging at her. Releasing a terrified squeak, she waved her hand at it, tossing it into the air without much thought so that it hit a nearby platform. That only served to enrage it. Running, the small teenager tried to get herself more time to think of a battle strategy, constantly healing her stamina so that she wouldn't have to slow down. Such use of her powers was already making her tired, and she could feel her judge watching her condescendingly._

 _The scraggly creature pounced randomly and sent her flying to the ground, badly damaging her ribs. With a tiny exclamation of pain, she hit a platform hard, a tiny bit of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. Terrified, she tried to heal herself before it was already in front of her, about to kill her, and it disintegrated. A familiar man walked up to her trembling form._

 _"_ _Heal yourself." he stated. Miku looked up and nodded, instantly wishing that she had kept her eyes on the ground. Master was certainly disappointed. She healed herself almost instantly, gritting her teeth as she felt herself slowly piece back together. Miku looked back up at him, waiting for an instruction and perhaps a bit of concern, but received nothing besides disappointment._

 _"_ _She could be deficient, yes." he spoke into his ear, turning his back to the sitting woman. "She was the first, after all, it would make sense. Alright, I'll see how much she can handle before we send her off. I thought I worked quite hard on muscle resistance. We'll have to make certain to work more on the mind..." With a flash, he was gone and back from his spectating position on the ledge, the rest of the conversation lost. Miku sat on the ground, feeling his disappointment from a mile away. She was such a waste. She would never receive a partner. Master was about to use her as test meat for the next soldiers to be released, her failure had caused her to mean absolutely nothing to him._

 _She heard a thud, looking up to regard a much larger monster. Whatever terror she should have felt was lost in her self-loathing, and she waited like a good girl for the creature to kill her so that she could at least die properly for Master. It wasted no time lumbering over to her, picking her up and tossing her against the far wall of the arena. She could feel some of her bones snap and made a muffled noise of pain, shoving her hand into her mouth so as not to annoy Master further. The beast came at her and slammed its fist into her back, paralyzing her entirely. She waited for it to deal the final blow and rid the universe of such a sorry excuse for a soldier._

 _Suddenly, her mind was racing. Adrenaline and millions of ideas shot through her head as she realized that she could prove herself to Master, that she_ ** _had_** _to prove herself to Master. Just before the monster was about to pound her, she used a platform to make it fall onto its back and hold it there. Clenching her jaw to hold in a scream of agony, she healed herself in an entirely new way. In retrospect, she truly was a 'blood-sucking little parasite.' She forced her energy into the monster itself, channeling all of her power into its flesh and blood before draining it entirely. She translated its wellbeing into hers and slowly stole its life, repairing every part of her body until her skin had a nice glow. Nothing even hurt anymore. Smiling, she disconnected from the monster, levitated it, and smashed it against a wall, using her newly stolen strength to shatter it to pieces as she watched it disintegrate into pixels. Master had to be surprised. She looked down to regard the humungous tear in her clothing where the first monster had broken her ribs, eyeing it with distaste. Remembering her doll and how she could control it, she regenerated some of the fibers of her shirt while weaving it back together, making a patch that was not half-bad._

 _Master appeared in front of her again, and she looked up at him, hoping to see some trace of a suggestion that she had done well. When she was met with nothing, her heart sank, making her slightly discouraged. After a moment's thought, her determination returned. She would learn how to use her defensive abilities to create the best, most confusing, most surprising attacks that anyone had ever seen. Master would appreciate her one day. That was the day that she learned to set a mental clock for herself, because after Master left, she had unwittingly trained into the following morning._

* * *

Luka was beginning to understand why Miku had been so competitive. She hadn't had any contact with anybody before Master, and the only emotion he ever showed her was distaste or his usual nonchalance. She wondered briefly if Miku had meant to share that memory with her, before almost jumping out of her skin at the fact that she had just seen Miku's memories. She considered the fact that Miku had the ability to leech health from others, and realized that she had never seen the other woman do it before. Miku responded that she had to be in critical condition for the action to actually make sense, and that she had worried about accidentally affecting Luka due to the fact that she leeched from a target that was full of her energy, and they shared energy.

Neither of them had really needed healing except for when Luka had been under a sleep spell, which was when Miku had been able to use her healing to pierce through the offending magic and wake her up. She also occasionally fed herself stamina in order to remain running through the air, but she usually didn't need it unless she was very weak and tired, meaning that she hadn't been doing it during their shared training sessions. They looked up to where another one of the commanders was talking.

"I agree with the other commander when she says that it's important to explore what your powers can do outside of their basic abilities. Since you're the advanced fleet, you probably have already done this to some extent, but I mean really think abstract." he began. "Unless Cheryl has anything to finish off, I think we should be just about good." he turned to his partner, the woman who had yet to speak.

"All I need to say is leave as soon as you can, and everything looks shady. You will always have your rooms to return to, which you will probably stay in for one night whenever you're called here, which means you can upload your objects into a private database and leave them here to access elsewhere. If you're trained right, you should be fine, and there's no point avoiding the shady places because they're seriously everywhere. It's chaos out there, people." she said. "Get going."

Luka and Miku headed upstairs, getting a card from Luka's belt that told them where their room was. Miku blushed into her hand and Luka tried to act nonchalant as they entered the room and noticed that it was also full of color.

"That's... Slightly indecent." Luka observed, trying to sound casual while avoiding all eye contact with her partner as a light blush dusted itself across her cheeks. Miku was coughing, and nodded, trying to keep her mouth closed. She hastily went to a wall and plugged her belt in, loading her possessions into it in a virtual format so that she could access them anywhere else. She tried to ignore how colorful everything was, but it was extremely embarrassing, even if the colors were muted. On second thought, the fact that the colors were muted actually made things worse, because it was suggestive of what they both knew was actually there. Once Miku had all of her possessions, she sat awkwardly in a chair across from Luka, not certain if she wanted to leave or stay considering that it was their last chance at being there for a while.

"Leaving now...feels spontaneous..." she tried, attempting not to look at the walls as she felt her face heat up. The room would be perfectly fine to anyone who was used to color. It had automatically updated itself to suit the colors of the inhabitants' possessions, meaning that the walls were a faint Pink with darker pink stripes. Where they met the floor, there was a muted teal trimming before they met the carpet, which was the same. Many of the objects in the room were pink mixed with teal, and both partners were trying excessively hard to avoid contact and regulate their breathing. Luka laughed nervously.

"Yes, I think we should make sure there's nothing else we need." she responded, wishing that she could change the color of the walls to seriously anything besides pink suggestively mixing with teal. Absentmindedly, Miku considered that if all partner rooms were like theirs, Rin and Len would be the only ones that didn't understand, because their theme colors matched, and so there was no mixing to be observed. Embarrassedly, they began to make absolutely certain that they were ready to leave. Once they were sure, they left the room and exited the building, hearing their belts beep once before becoming silent as all of their lights went off so as not to give them away. Those particular articles were beneath a layer of clothing anyway, but there was never a 'too careful' when it came to chaos. Awkwardness made both of their fear go away, and so Miku actually understood why they had patterned the rooms in such fashions. Only after they stepped outside were they in awe of the world around them. There was no fear before they exited, meaning that they would instantly throw themselves into the world without causing problems. Miku glanced around, wide eyed.

"That's a lot of color..." she muttered. Luka nodded. Unsafe looking dark grey clouds were layered thickly over whatever sky there was, and they had a yellowish tint to them. There was a path before them that was clearly made out, but outside of the humungous fortification, vines and plants had grown into everything, colored in faded, dark greens and thorns. Miku felt slightly excited and slightly unnerved, but she and Luka began to walk pointedly out of the final gates and into the new world, energy pooling beneath their fingertips. They carefully maneuvered the plants and vines, mentally tracking their own locations so that they could return to the building if they were ever called back. While they were moving, they shared quiet thoughts with one another. Miku was actually very excited. The world around them looked terrifying, but at the same time, there was just so much of it. Both herself and Luka had been confined within their training center, which was very large for a building, but nothing in comparison to the land that seemed to span on for all of eternity, even if it was blocked by a bunch of plants. Miku had an idea, and used her healing abilities to cause the plants around them to break and then regenerate in different directions. She was about to make a path, but remembered that they were supposed to be impossible to track, and let the plants be.

Luka was silent as they picked their way through the dense jungle of plants, eventually coming to an area where the foliage thinned out and went away entirely, leaving a muddy, hay-like surface beneath their feet. The pink-haired woman looked over to regard Miku questioningly, and the latter looked around for something. Everything was dead quiet, with dark, dull colors filling up the entirety of their vision, spanning on for what seemed like an infinity. Eventually, Miku met Luka's gaze and mentally voiced her concerns. She noted that the area looked quite clearly like a trap, and that they would be easy to spot and kill if they simply walked out. Luka nodded and paused for a moment, searching for ideas. She saw that there were a few similar looking figures nearby that represented what she had seen in the life simulator back at the training establishment. Miku followed her gaze and nodded, picking the forest as their best bet. It would offer them decent cover without making it difficult for them to see.

They both observed the forest while being exceptionally careful not to lose focus on everything that was around them. Neither of them had to look at one another, because they felt each other's presence mentally, and the shared energy evidently also allowed them to feel a delicate pull that grew in intensity whenever they were close, somewhat like a magnet. The pull alerted them of when they were close, allowing them to keep a comfortable distance from one another without accidentally bumping together and disrupting focus. After a very long time that Miku's mind told her was an hour, they noticed a thinning in some branches. Luka pulled her card silently from her belt and scanned the small clearing, which came up as a fallen city that was currently inhabited by allies. She put her card back and glanced at Miku, who shrugged her shoulders. They both entered the outskirts of the un-abandoned city. Plants grew through all of the buildings, which were in extreme disrepair.

The silence seemed to fill every space, but it was soon broken by the sound of someone approaching. A woman waved at them and trotted to stand a short distance away. Miku and Luka were aware of being scanned before the woman fully approached and stood before them.

"Hey." her voice was very quiet. Everyone probably spoke in a whisper thanks to the silence. "We rarely get soldiers around this place, I'm quite relieved to see you for however long you may be here. This is Camp Seventeen. Are you taking missions?" Luka glanced at Miku. She knew that they were both down for it, but wanted to make certain before answering.

"Yes, we can take a mission." she responded. The woman looked overjoyed.

"It's been so long, so much has happened." she muttered, "Come to the department where I'll get you officially situated.

* * *

 **A/N: XD ok for starters no I do not actually find colors suggestive. I'm not sure if there are people who do, but that segment was intended to both be humorous and explore the fact that these beings, although human-like, understand things very different from average humans. I wanted to leave it in because I still found it funny and it was another piece of character development to boot. (In case you haven't figured it out, I looove character development). As usual, please say whatever you wanna say in reviews, I always learn from your input. Until next time!**


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